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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30125889">Revelations</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornasol/pseuds/tornasol'>tornasol</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Post-How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:28:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30125889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornasol/pseuds/tornasol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It only took her one look at what was transpiring for her to contemplate their entire future together - if there still was one. Or, Astrid's thoughts during the fight with Grimmel.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Revelations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey! this is my first time posting something that I wrote on ao3 and I truly hope that it's good. This is mainly a self-indulgent hiccstrid fic, I really didn't know where it was going but somehow this came out so without further ado, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I think that’s the last one, let’s head back now!” She yelled over all the commotion, dodging a flying axe going her way that dangerously missed her by mere inches. She sprinted for a run then, trying her best to evade any threats and deeply hoping her legs wouldn’t give up beneath her. </p><p>The more she ran, the more the tightness in her chest increased— the lack of air in her lungs suddenly became a restraint. She mustered what was left of her strength and put two fingers in between her mouth, blowing out some air. Almost immediately, she heard Stormfly’s familiar squawk from above, the Nadder landing gracefully on the decaying ship’s deck in the midst of chaos. </p><p>She grasped the saddle tightly and in one swift motion pulled herself atop of the leather seat. Stormfly took off right after, the already cauterized wooden surface in which they were standing promptly shattered after her dragon’s strong impulse. </p><p>She faintly saw the other riders mounting on their dragons, trailing not too far behind her, but her main concern was to get back to the cliff on time. </p><p>“Come on, girl!” Astrid pressed herself forward trying to gain more speed, the high steep getting closer with each flutter of wings. She could hear distant cheering, the often roaring of some dragons that were nearby, blasts that soundly went off in the distance, and lastly, collective muffled screams. </p><p>And then silence. </p><p>The hasty change of atmosphere left her perplexed, with a strange feeling of dread, almost stopping her midair. At once, she became alert, looked around for any threats, and squinted her eyes for better focus. </p><p>And for a few seconds, her heart stopped. A loud gasp deliberately escaped from her lips. </p><p>No.  </p><p>He was falling. Gravity pulling him downwards with such velocity that seemed inconceivable. </p><p>She saw him plummeting down to certain death with Grimmel clinging to his flying suit. She saw Grimmel relentlessly tearing apart every bit of the handmade wings that were until that point unharmed. She saw Grimmel clutching his prosthetic as a last attempt to survive when he lost his grip on his shoulders. She saw Grimmel bring down Berk’s Chief and her entire heart with him. </p><p>Suddenly a new sense of strength overcome her and she urged Stormfly to fly even faster. The Nadder, sensing her rider’s distress, complied with little coaxing, letting out a soft squawk as a way of comfort. </p><p>Her eyes began to sting, a few tears threatening to fall down, prickling her lashes but she wouldn’t let them, not now. Her hands started to ache from gripping the saddle tightly, her legs feeling numb from squeezing her knees firmly against Stormfly’s sides as to not fall off and also as the only other thing keeping her from doing anything drastic.</p><p>She kept her gaze forward — even if it hurt seeing such scene display before her — it served as a motivation to keep on going. But despite her dragon’s effort, they were still too far away. He was too far away. </p><p>Her mind wandered to all those things that could have been if circumstances were to be different, if their day-to-day life weren’t an occupational hazard of some sort. Visions of a future that just seconds ago seemed so plausible we’re being snatched out of her grasp with such cruelty, leaving a bitter aftermath in its wake. </p><p>Thoughts of warm embraces, tingly touches, blinding smiles, tinted cheeks, tiny fingers—</p><p>Her breath hitched. </p><p>Her heart constricted. </p><p>Her vision blurred and breathing became even more difficult than when she was running away from the turmoil in the ships. </p><p>But dwelling on it wasn’t an option, time was at stake — no, time was only an appendage of the bigger picture and she wasn’t about to push her luck on that one.</p><p>An instruction fell from her lips, voice coming out more strangled than she cared to admit. Astrid was about to encourage Stormfly to keep flying forward when suddenly a white blob came at high speed towards the free-falling pair, its front paws taking ahold of one very stubborn, selfless Viking. </p><p>And she couldn’t remember another time when she felt as relieved as in that particular moment. </p><p>She never brought it up and nobody actually knew, aside from the gang, that she was well aware of what had transpired that fateful afternoon. There were some hushed whispers whenever she entered a stall and odd hand motions meant to silence whatever was going to be said about the matter and the sorrowful looks —oh, the looks— that were sent her way when they thought she wasn’t looking. </p><p>She had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes at all of it because it was silly, so utterly silly. There was absolutely nothing to feel gloom for, everything was alright (well, that wasn’t entirely true, the dragon’s depart to the hidden world was still a very painful memory) but they better drop the subject before she shows them herself just how well she’s managing. </p><p>Hiccup was fine, he was safe, she wasn’t going to lose him just yet, they were going to get married after all, he couldn’t—</p><p>But he almost did.</p><p>And it was in that moment, during one of her throwing practices in New Berk’s uncharted woods, that she finally let everything sink in. And this time, she didn’t even try to choke back the sob that escaped her lips nor withhold the tears from freely cascading down her cheeks. </p><p>She faintly heard the calming rustling of leaves from the trees above her and the distinguished uneven sound of a metal prosthesis and a boot stepping on branches and fallen leaves.</p><p>“There you are, I’ve been looking for you nonstop—“his sentence was cut short the moment his very vivid, expressive green eyes landed on her and she couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth because he wore his heart on his sleeve and he was caring, selfless Hiccup and she loved him, accident prone or not. </p><p>His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes held now a softer gaze and from where she was standing she could already see the wheels on his mind turning, “Hey, what’s wrong?” </p><p>She faintly registered his movements, steady footsteps approaching her slowly. In a matter of seconds he was enveloping in a tight hug, one of his hands cradling the back of her head while the other was wrapped around her waist and there was nothing she could do but hug him back just as tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. </p><p>She always took pride in her ability to conceal her stronger emotions. She dealt with them as the strong shieldmaiden she was raised to be, always facing them head-first. But, she thought, there’s nothing wrong with letting your walls down once in a while. Preferably not too often though. </p><p>“I thought I had lost you.” she managed to say in between sobs, muffled by the fabric of his shirt and so low that she almost thought he didn’t hear her. But somehow he did because his grip around her tightened as did hers around his torso. </p><p>Astrid decided against adding the <em>for sure</em> at the end since, she believes, it’s heavily implied. There were many times in which she was very close to losing him through the years, but this one seemed so much real, so much dreadful.</p><p>Neither of them were sure of how long they stayed embraced in the deep ends of New Berk’s forest, but they certainly didn’t care either when the sun started to set on the horizon, a chilly breeze rustling the leaves up on the trees, signaling that the night was upon them. </p><p>She took one last deep breath and slowly untangled herself from the hug. He took a small step back and raised his hand to gently wipe the remaining tears gracing her face. She leaned into his touch, bringing her hand upwards to lace their fingers together and smiling softly when he brought her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle lovingly.</p><p>Gods, she loves him. </p><p> </p>
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